CMCA is pleased to announce 35 artists that have been selected to have their works featured in the 2023 CMCA Biennial exhibition, which will be installed across all 5,500 square feet of the museum’s galleries. The exhibition will be on view from January 28 – May 7, 2023. The CMCA Biennial is the longest-running statewide juried exhibition in Maine and highlights the latest developments in contemporary art by Maine-based and connected artists.
The 35 artists (including two collaboratives) were selected from a total applicant pool of 423 artists by this year’s distinguished jurors – Misa Jeffereis, Assistant Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and Sarah Montross, Senior Curator at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (Lincoln, MA). It is notable that the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is a fellow noncollecting museum of contemporary art.
In a statement by the jurors, Montross writes, “There is a certain fragility and resourcefulness within this Biennial: artworks that resemble or use scrim, string, patchwork, and connective tissues. There are cast-off parts or fragments brought together through collage and assemblage. This sense of connectivity—of small, individual parts joining to re-form into a whole—extends to people: artists convey intimate, private worlds, memories, and interpersonal relationships, both real and imagined, through touch, familial closeness, and tender humor.”
Jeffries adds, “The artists participating together form a resounding chorus of perspectives, reflecting the pivotal moment in which we exist—the societal inequities we push against, our understanding of time and our transience on Earth, the drive to understand one’s identity and lineage, and our relationship to the environment and our place within it.”
The CMCA 2023 Biennial Artists include:
Rachel Gloria Adams (Portland, ME)
Nick Benfey (New York City, NY)
Philip Brou (South Portland, ME)
Shane Charles (Bangor, ME)
Shaina Gates (Kittery, ME)
Elyse Grams (Portland, ME)
Dylan Hausthor (Waterville, ME)
Alanna Hernandez (Union, ME)
Rebecca Hutchinson (Rochester, MA)
Jenny Ibsen (Portland, ME)
Michael Kolster (Brunswick, ME)
Jared Lank (Portland, ME
Nate Luce (Rockland, ME)
Alex Lukas (Santa Barbara, CA)
Heather Lyon (Blue Hill, ME)
Dafna Maimon and Ethan Hayes-Chute (Berlin, GER)
Haley MacKeil (Providence, RI)
Mandana MacPherson and Gigi Obrecht (Freeport, ME)
Geoffrey Masland (Yarmouth, ME)
Travis Morehead (Evanston, IL)
Madeleine Morlet (Rockport, ME)
Pamela Moulton (North Bridgton, ME)
Elaine Ng (Hope, ME)
Anna Queen (Rockland, ME)
José Santiago Pérez (Chicago, IL)
Ransome (Rhinebeck, NY)
Mariah Reading (Bangor, ME)
Lynn Richardson (Swanzey, NH)
Brian Smith (Portland, ME)
Juliette Walker (Farmingdale, ME)
Holden Willard (Portland, ME)
Erin Woodbrey (South Orleans, MA)
Evelyn Wong (Portland, ME)
These artists underscore the broad network of talented artists who call Maine home or who have significant ties to a specific Maine community but currently reside elsewhere, ranging from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Germany.
The museum-wide exhibition will showcase an exceptional variety of artworks created over the past two years that will span all artist media, including installation-based and commissioned artworks. The final selection of artworks and the curation of the 2023 CMCA Biennial will be overseen by CMCA’s curatorial team: Executive Director and Chief Curator, Timothy Peterson, and Curatorial Associate and Exhibitions Manager, Rachel Romanski.
“CMCA’s Biennial continues to offer a rare, sweeping view into developments at the forefront of contemporary art, through the works of artists who are locally rooted and globally connected.” – Timothy Peterson
CMCA’s juried Biennial dates back to 1978, making the 2023 CMCA Biennial the organization’s 23 rd Biennial to-date. New this year, preference was given to artists who have not exhibited at CMCA over the past two years.
Important Dates
The 2023 CMCA Biennial will be on view from January 28 – May 7, 2023.
The opening reception for the 2023 CMCA Biennial will take place on Saturday, January 28 from 3-5:30pm, with free admission for the reception.
Support
The 2023 CMCA Biennial is made possible by grants from the Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and through the support of generous donors to the Suzette McAvoy Exhibition Fund.
A special thank you to Annie Bailey, Hannah Berta, Emily Fitzpatrick, Luke Myers, Nina Noah, Carmen Ribaudo, and Vincente Weber for their installation expertise in making this exhibition possible.